A Specialist Kind Of Love
by kate10011
Summary: Noah Puckerman may be a proud soldier, but sometimes his toughest battles aren't fought in a warzone. AU: Babygate never happened.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: Noah Puckerman may be a proud soldier, but sometimes his toughest battles aren't fought in a warzone. AU: Babygate never happened.**

**Author's Note: The portrayal of adoption in this story is unrealistic however this is a work of FICTION! not a PSA on adoption.**

* * *

**A Specialist Kind Of Love.**

Beth had lived on bases her whole life, now at sixteen for the first time ever she lived in a neighborhood where every other parent seemed to come home at the end of the day from some boring job, except hers. Her dad, Specialist Noah Puckerman, was an army ranger, six months into another deployment in Afghanistan. He'd pretty much been gone on and off her whole life. She was pretty sure that hers was the only house in the neighborhood that had a "magic drawer" where her dad left presents for her and her mum, so he never completely missed a special occasion. Until today that is.

Today was her parents twentieth wedding anniversary, a day her mum had been looking forward too for months, yet when they opened the drawer this morning it was empty. She remembers the narrative of the drawer well, it started before she was born, during her dad's first tour, on her mum's birthday, an envelop arrived that contained a key and a note, the key was to a drawer in the buffet table, inside was a birthday present. Her whole life that drawer had a present for every occasion when her dad wasn't home to give them a present himself. When she was little she convinced herself that the drawer was magic, now she realized it was just as unreliable as everything else in her life. She was just as devastated as her mum when the drawer was completely empty. When her phone rang she picked it up without checking the caller ID.

"What" She moaned into the phone, today wasn't a good day.

"I miss you too munchkin" Her dad's voice replied. She really didn't want to talk to him right now, not when she was this mad at him, "I need you to get your mum to go with Auntie Rachel"

"Why?" She snapped, like she wanted to help him.

"Just do it Beth" He replied, in his patented do as I say or else voice. Bad things happened if you didn't listen to that voice.

"Fine, bye" She hung up and walked towards her parents room, her knocked and entered without giving her mum a chance to react, "The photo albums, really Mum?"

"I'm just feeling a little sentimental" Quinn replied, wiping away the stray tears.

"Didn't you have plans with Auntie Rachel?" Beth asked, doing what her dad told her to do.

"I don't feel up to it today B-Bug, it's been a bad day" Quinn and Beth had a policy about good/bad days when Puck was away, they had to let each other know. It was important that they talked about it, and Quinn made sure that she let Beth know she struggled sometimes too, being a mum didn't make her superwoman.

"You should go, it might make you feel better" Beth said, "Plus Alyssa told me that Rachel really wanted to talk with you, she's struggling too mum" Okay, sue her, she's knows that's a low blow, just 'cause Uncle Finn is in the same unit as her dad, Rachel is dealing better than her mum right now.

"You okay to spend the afternoon by yourself?" Quinn asked her daughter.

"I'm sixteen not six mum" Beth rolled her eyes.

"Okay" Quinn laughed, kissing her daughter's forehead as she moved off the bed, "Be good while I'm gone."

* * *

Her Mum's been gone a little over an hour when she hears the back door open, "Mum, is that you?" she calls.

"No" Her dad calls back to her. She's shocked into silence when he enters the living room and stands in the doorway.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, leaping off the couch and launching herself at him, sure she's pissed at him but he's her dad and he's home after six months in a warzone, sue her.

"I missed my girls too much" Her dad whispers to her.

"We missed you too daddy" She replies, but what else is new, she's been gone her whole life.

"Did you get your Mum out the door okay?" He asked, carrying her back to the couch and sitting down with her in his lap like when she was a baby.

"Yeah, I just told her that Auntie Rachel was doing bad"

"Your auntie Rachel is glowing so bad she's lit up like a Christmas tree, you'll be busted as soon as your mum sees her" He informs his daughter.

"Uncle Finn is home too?"

"Whole teams home babe" She hates when he talks about the team, there always the one's that pull him away for her and her mum.

"Why didn't you tell Mum, you hurt her bad this time" She sees the flash of pain across his face but she kind of thinks that he deserves it, he should be home more.

"It was last minute, and I thought it would be nice to surprise her"

"She's used of you being gone dad, there was nothing in the drawer, you couldn't have planned that"

"I had Rach take it out when we knew for sure we were coming home" Her phone buzzes with a text from her mum to stay she's on her way back, she shows the message to her dad, "Wanna help surprise her?"

"Fine" She mumbles, besides this isn't for him, its for her mum. "What do you want me to do."

"Nothin' pretend I'm not even here."

"Like she's not going to notice the 200 pounds of smelly and stupid that snuck in the back door"

"Oi" He says, tickling her sides, "That's not a nice thing to say about the only man you'll ever love"

"But Uncle Finn isn't here" She jokes, its been a running joke her whole life since she accidentally called Finn _dada_ before her dad when she was a baby.

"Thin ice kid" He warns, finding the more ticklish spot under arms.

"Daddy" She begs, he relents quickly.

Ten minutes later the front door opens, "Beth what do you say to dinner at Breadsticks"

"Sounds good" Beth replies, looking at her dad.

"Okay, you book a table while I grab a shower" Her Mum heads up stairs and they wait for the door to close before they both start laughing.

"Rach's already said they'll come here tonight" Her dad tells her, it's tradition for a Puckerman-Hudson dinner the night the boys come home.

"Okay" Beth replies.

Her dad quizzes her on what she's been doing since he left while her mum's in the shower. It takes about twenty minutes before her Mum comes back down the stairs and by then she and her dad her having a decent conversation.

"Beth did you book the…."Quinn stops when she enters the living room and realizes her daughter is not alone.

"Dad told me not to" Beth replies, ignoring the look of shock on her mother's face, "We have plans already"

It takes a minute for Quinn to react, she launches herself at her husband in a similar way to her daughter, except for the fact that he's sitting down this time. Beth slips out of the room, shits about to get mushy, she knows all to well.

"Hi baby" Puck whispers to his wife who is sobbing heavily on his lap.

"Hi" She stutters, "Your home, your really home"

"I'll always come back to you babe" He replied, she runs her hands over his face, down his neck, over his arms, down his sides, he knows she's checking for injuries, not that she'll find anything, "What's the damage report?"

She bites her lip, knowing she's busted, "I was worried about you"

"I'm fine" He reassures her, "I love you"

"You better" She replies, "I love you too"

"You okay" He wipes a few tears of her face, "I thought we made a deal about the crying."

"It's just hard sometimes, I missed you all the time" She says, "And I worry about you everyday."

"You know I miss you and the munchkin but you don't need to worry about me baby, I'm fine" He tells her, "I know better than not to come home to you"

"Were you safe?" She asks, "Why did they bring you home?"

"Course we were safe babe, always are." He replies, "They pulled us out in the withdrawal, there's only foot soldiers on the ground now, but that's a secret so don't tell my mum"

She giggles softly, and his face lights up when she smiles, "I'm so glad your home" She sighes, leaning in to kiss him softly.

* * *

It may be their twentieth wedding anniversary but that doesn't stop Puck and Quinn from making out for a solid hour, rarely coming up for air.

"Q, stop" He whispers to his wife as she whispers dirty things in his ear, "Babe, our daughter could come downstairs any second." It amazes him that he is the voice of reason in these types of situations, especially considering his reputation in high school.

She frowns, "But I missed you _so _much" she moans.

"Babe, seriously, it's been six months, my self-control sucks as it is, don't tempt me" He whispers, pulling them both back to a sitting position on the couch, "Once Rach and Finn are gone I promise we'll make up for lost time, but for now just tell me what I missed."

"That sounds really, really good" She whispers, peaking is lips a few times, "There is one little thing we need to talk about, promise me you won't get upset"

"Promise" He says, sighing to himself, this can't be good he thinks.

"Well its just, you know the people here haven't changed that much, and your reputation still lingers in the beds of cougars" He frowns when she starts giggling, "People think you left me and Beth, like walked out and aren't coming back left"

"Babe" He sighs, she looks at him sadly, "Why is this bothering you so much"

"You are the best dad and husband and friend and partner in the world, why can't people just see that" She's getting emotional now, "and I know that you would never leave just and everyone thinks I'm this pathetic woman pretending that her husband will come home when he won't and I just….. I hate being alone when its like this" She's crying now.

"Baby, I'm sorry" He pulls her onto his lap, holding her tight to his chest, "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have let you come back here by yourself, I should have been here."

"No, you had to go, you have your job, and I know you love it" She says, "It makes you happy, I know it does."

"Quinn, there's no point me even trying to be happy if your not" He whispers, "We'll fix this, I promise"

"I believe you"

* * *

The Hudsons arrive at 7:01pm, which causes Rachel to apologize profusely for the first ten minutes of their visit. Rachel and Finn have three children, Alyssa, the oldest, she's Beth's age and the girls are best friends, then there's Nathaniel, who's two years younger and just like his dad, and their _little surprise_ Ella, who's four. Puck and Quinn only ever had Beth, they wanted more children but there were complications when Beth was born which made another one impossible, so they've always been a little jealous of the Hudsons.

"I still can't believe you didn't tell me" Quinn exclaims, glaring at Rachel, who's tucked under her husband's arm, by now they've established that Rachel picked the boys up at the airport this morning before leaving Finn alone with the kids and take Quinn on a girls day. "And we didn't follow our tradition!"

"Really?" Rachel questions, while simultaneously playing some sort of game with her daughter whose sitting on Finn's lap. "We didn't?"

Quinn thinks for a second, "It doesn't count if I didn't realize what we were doing" Puck shots Finn a look that Rachel and Quinn recognize all too well, "I'm not crazy!" She exclaims, hitting her husbands chest, "Ouch" she cries, shacking her hand. "I think I broke something."

"You did not hit that hard" Puck says dismissively, he gently took her injured hand and ran his thumb over it softly, "It's not swelling, it's not broken, your fine" he whispers to her.

"You should eat more junk food" She mumbles, "Your chest is like a friggin rock"

"You've never complained about me being _hard_ before" He whispers suggestively, just loud enough for Rachel to hear him.

"Children in the room" Rachel screeches, "Gross! Noah"

"Chill the fuck out Berry" Puck exclaims.

"Noah! Language" Rachel yells at him, Puck smirks, "Oh very funny Noah"

"Not cool dude" Finn says, by now it has become a running thing between Puck and Rachel to see if Puck can get Rachel to go into what he refers to as "Crazy Berry mode" like in high school. "I've got enough to worry about without you screwing with my wife"

"Relax Hudson" Puck says dismissively, "I guess Rach told you about this rumour mill crap"

"It's really just ridiculous" Rachel says, "Anyone can see that my children have been raised with an excellent father in their lives not one that would just abandon them and I mean really, how could anyone think that Noah would abandon his child, just because his father did, doesn't mean that he will" she rants.

Quinn leans a little further into Puck's side when Rachel mentions his dad, looking up at him through her thick eyelashes, she smiles softly when he looks down at her. "I think we just need to ignore it, just because people will talk doesn't mean we should change our lives" Quinn says.

"Mercedes and Kurt were my closest friends in high school, they were in both our weddings, I just can't believe they would spread awful rumors like this." Rachel says.

"Wait, Hummel and Jones, they started this?" Puck asks

"Yes" Rachel answers, "It's inexplicable really"

"I think there jealous" Quinn says, Rachel, Finn and Puck look at her with shocked expressions, "What! Rachel just retired from Broadway with four Tony's, she's married with three kids, I got to be her agent all that time, and I have Beth and an amazing husband, their dreams frizzled out, there both single and working at McKinnley, and then we come back without our husbands, I think they were just jealous and wanted to take us down a peg or two"

"I agree with Quinn" Finn says, looking to Rachel for approval, no question about who wears the pants in their house. "And I mean Kurt had that big fight with Burt and they don't even talk now, he's all alone"

"I feel sorry for them" Quinn says, "I can't imagine what my life would be like if I was all alone like that, I complain that I only get one kid, and they don't have any."

"Quinn" Puck whispers, "Don't think about it"

"We should reach out to them" Rachel declares, "We were like a family when we were younger, it seems a shame that they should be all alone"

* * *

After dinner, Beth declares her intention to go stay with her grandmother for the night, and Rachel offers to take her since she's taking her kids to Burt and Carole's anyway. As soon as Beth and the Hudsons leave, Puck pushes Quinn against the wall in the hallway, pulling her shirt off her and kissing her lewdly.

The next morning, Quinn woke up well after her usual 8am start, before she opened her eyes she noted that the bed felt much warmer and she must not have used these sheets in a while because they smell like her husband. Then her brain turns on fully and she realizes, he came home yesterday, her eyes fly open and she sees him in the bed next to her, as naked as she is, watching her through half closed eyes.

"Hi" He whispers, his voice is still thick with sleep, but heaven on the ears of someone who hasn't heard it for six months.

"Good morning" She sighs, leaning forward to kiss him without exposing too much of her naked chest. "It's good to wake up next to you again"

"Hell of a way to wake up" He agrees. "Hell of a view" he notes, glancing down at her exposed body.

She laughs, "Your insatiable"

"If I knew what that meant, I might agree" He replies, he's lying of course, he knows what that means, he's just more comfortable playing the idiot than trying to outsmart his wife.

"It means you won't object to spending all day in bed with me" She whispers, licking her lips slowly.

"Have I ever?" He asks, pulling her on top of him eliciting a loud squeal from her.

* * *

Beth and Alyssa sit next to each other in Glee Club on Friday afternoon, its been a full week since their dads got home. While Alyssa has spend every second she can with her dad, Beth has been retreating to her room and away from her parents, who are acting like lovesick sixteen year olds.

"Alright, I want each of you to think of something you think is weird about yourselves, something you can share with all of us" Mr Schue says, he is trying to teach them about using music to overcome adversity, "Okay anyone want to share" when no one volunteers he goes to plan B, "Ah Beth, just one thing?"

"Okay" Beth says, racking her brain, "Um, I don't have any grandfathers, my parents claim they don't exist"

"That's impossible" Amber Hart scoffs, "And stupid"

"My dad's dad walked out when my dad was eight, my mom's dad kicked her out of home when she was sixteen." Beth replies.

"Then like who gave your mum away at her wedding and stuff?" Amelia Roberts asked, the girl is always talking about weddings because her boyfriend proposed before he left for college last year.

"I did" Mr Schue chimes in, the Glee Club (with the exception of Alyssa and Beth) give him weird looks "I knew Beth's parents, and Alyssa's too, when they were in highschool, the four of them were part of the original New Directions, Quinn asked me to give her away when they got married, and I spoke at Alyssa's parents wedding as well"

"My mum still has the letter you gave her the day she graduated here, she framed it and it used to hang in her dressing room" Alyssa supplies, "Does that count as the weird fact about me?"

"Not if you don't want it too" Mr Schue told her, "Did you have something else in mind"

"Well I was going to say that my dad is gone for almost half my life" Alyssa says, "Beth and I both have dads in the army, and they have been in and out of warzones since before we were born"

"Then why don't you live on a military base or something" Joshua Johnson asks.

"We did" Alyssa said, "But my Mum retired from Broadway last year and she and Beth's mum, who was Mum's agent, decided that they wanted to move back to Lima to be with family."

"And because our dads give them everything they want, we moved here" Beth adds. Slowly each member of New Directions adds to the conversation with something they think is weird about themselves. After they finish, Mr Schue gives them the sheet music to _Loser Like Me_ and tells them to put together an impromptu performance with only five minutes prep time. Because Rachel was the original lead vocalist, they decide that Alyssa should sing lead. When the tape goes on, they all start dancing around the room.

* * *

Puck feels a strange sense of nostalgia and deja-vu when he walks down the halls of McKinnley High School towards the choir room. Although he's supporting a military issue buzz cut instead of his old Mohawk, nothing else seems to have changed that much. He hears the music from down the hall and when he gets to the door he can't help but to lean against the frame and watch Beth dance around with her friends.

When the music stops, the group cheer loudly, "OKAY GUYS" Mr Schue yells to get their attention, "That was great, take five and we'll try one more time"

"Ah Mr. Schue, I have to go" Beth says.

"Is everything okay?" He asks her, Beth jerks her head towards the door, when he turns around he sees a familiar man in the doorway, "Noah Puckerman"

"Mr. Schue" Puck replies, shaking hands with his old teacher, "Hope you don't mind if I take Beth, we are heading off to NYC for the weekend."

"That's fine" Mr. Schue says, "I'm glad you got back home safe"

"Eight tours and I'm still standing" Puck replies proudly.

"He's too scared of Aunty Quinn not to come home" Alyssa chimes in, giving Puck a hug.

"And you haven't even since Scary Quinn yet" Puck tells her. "Then again you've got enough problems with your crazy mother"

"Mr. Schue, maybe its not a good idea to let him take her, I mean how do we know Quinn knows about this trip" Kurt says, "From what I heard he ran away from his family. For all we know he's kidnapping her."

"That's just a stupid rumor" Beth says, standing at her fathers side, "He never left at all, he just went to work, he's still married to my Mum and he's still my dad, you can't stop me from leaving with him."

"Beth calm down" Puck says to his angry daughter, "Just ignore Hummel's crap"

"Can we just leave?" Beth asks, her dad nods and leads her towards the door.

* * *

When they get out to the parking lot, Quinn is waiting impatiently in the car, "What the hell took so long?" She demands.

"Someone has too many friends" Puck says, looking at Beth pointedly. "Much like her mother back in the day"

"Oh you want to talk day in the day do you?" Quinn asks, mockingly, as Puck drives out of the parking lot "Beth do you want to know the real story about your dad in high-school"

"You want me to tell her your real story?" He fires back

"I want to know why Kurt and Mercedes hate you both so much" Beth said, "And I totally want to know all the stupid stuff you two did in high-school" she adds.

"Okay, so for most of high-school your Mum was dating your Uncle Finn" Her Dad starts.

"Gross" Beth chimes in, "That's practically incest" Her parents laugh

"And your dad was sleeping with every woman in Lima" Quinn chimes in.

"Then your Mum left Finn, who started dating Rachel, so your Mum dated me for like five seconds, then dropped me, started dating a guy called Sam, then went back to Finn again…" But then Quinn cuts him off.

"Meanwhile your dad dated your Aunty Rachel for a week because she was Jewish, and then started dating Mercedes because he thought she was cool, while sleeping with Santana the school slut because he could, only to make out with Rachel again when she was mad at Finn, and then he dated some girl called Lauren Zizes, because he thought she was "Badass"" She tells her daughter.

"When Finn dumped your Mum because he decided he was in love with Rachel again, she cut her hair off, then came back at the start of senior year with bright pink hair, a tramp stamp, dating a 40 year old skateboarder and smoking under the bleachers."

"Meanwhile your dad got dumped by Zizes, because she didn't want to lose her "cool factor," so your dad had an affair with a teacher, who dumped him when she got a conscience, and then went back to bedding anything with a skirt and a low IQ"

"Meanwhile your Mum pulled herself back together, after trying and falling to hook up with Sam again and trying to seduce me, and then decided that she was going to be on her own until she left for Yale, and then tried to stop Rachel and Finn from getting married so Rachel would go to New York and not stay in Lima, but when she gave Rachel her blessing, on the way to the wedding your mum got in an accident."

"When I got out of hospital, your dad and I decided to be friends, which turned into flirting in between classes" Her Mum smiles brightly.

"Then one day she demanded that I stop screwing with her head, and either ask her out or leave her alone, so I took her on a date" Her dad finished, kissing Quinn's hand as he watches the road in front of them.

"While that's cute and I'm totally going to use it against you, what does this have to do with Kurt and Mercedes?"

"Well, Mercedes dated Sam after I did, but they broke up, and around the time your dad and I started dating seriously, Sam and Mercedes were going to get back together" Quinn says, "One day Sam and I were talking in between classes, and he mentioned that he must not have a type because the two girls he'd ever been in love with were me and Mercedes, total opposites. But then I mentioned that we did have one thing in common" She hesitates, "We both had a history of cheating on our boyfriends."

"You cheated on dad?" Beth asked, outraged at the idea of her parents marriage being that broken all this time.

"No!" Quinn exclaims, she takes a deep breath, "The reason that Finn and I broke up the first time was because I cheated with your dad, I lost my virginity to him"

"Gross" Beth chimes in.

"And when Finn found out he broke up with me" Her Mum says, ignoring Beth's previous statement, "But by the time he decided he wanted me back, I was already dating Sam, and I cheated again, this time with Finn. And Mercedes had cheated on her last boyfriend with Sam, so when I pointed all this out to him, he decided that he couldn't go there again, twenty years later, Sam still lives in Lima with his wife Catherine and their four children, and Mercedes is alone because I pointed out that Sam did have a type"

"So you've never cheated on dad?" Beth clarifies.

"Never" Quinn says, looking at her husband, "I've cheated twice in my entire life and I'll never do it again. I'm a one man kind of girl"

"Wait" Beth says, "You've only ever _been with _dad?" This conversation is kind of gross, but she's curious.

"Yes" Quinn confirms, "My _One and Only_"

"But dad's been with other girls?" Beth asks, the thought is gross, but the curiosity is killing her.

"Not since I was eighteen" Her dad tells her, watching his daughter in the rearview mirror, "But before then, yeah I slept around a lot, and I'm not proud of that"

"He was at the time, "McKinnley's Sex God" they used to call him" Quinn jokes, earning a death glare from her husband.

"So that explains Mercedes, but what about Kurt?" Beth asks, that's more than enough talk about her parents sex life.

"Well that started after we left Lima, your dad and Uncle Finn enlisted, and Rachel and I went away to college." Quinn tells her daughter, "I was missing your dad really badly because we could only communicate via letters infrequently, and Rachel was going through the same thing, plus with her at NYADA and me at Yale, it wasn't too hard to meet up on weekends. But Kurt was Rachel's best friend and living in Lima, slowly I replaced Kurt because Rachel and I had a lot more in common at that point, and when she made it big on Broadway two years after leaving Lima, I was standing next to her, not Kurt, he never got over that"

"So both Mercedes and Kurt think you took something away from them?" Beth asks.

"I guess" Quinn says. "They've never really forgiven me for that"

"I have one more question" Beth announced a few minutes later, "How did dad propose, you never talk about it"

"I so get to tell this story" Her dad laughs, "It was the day I got my orders for my first tour, I took the train with Finn to New York to meet your Mum and Rachel. We were alone in Rachel's guest bedroom when I told her I couldn't go away and leave a girlfriend at home, but before I could finish my sentence" He glared at his wife, "Your mum started with a four hour rant about how I couldn't break up with her just because I was shipping out, and how we'd get through it, so four hours later, I finally got to tell her what I was trying to say"

"He asked me to marry him and I said yes" Quinn finishes for her husband.

"What were you going to say before she started ranting?" Beth asks, wondering how the proposal would have happened without her Mum's "Crazy Meter on High" (Her dads words; not hers)

"I was going to say that I couldn't ship out with a girlfriend because she meant too much to me, and I wanted to tie myself to her in everyway possible" Her dad says, "And if anything should ever happen to me while I was away, I wanted to be able to protect her in everyway I could"

"So Mum ruined a great proposal with the "Crazy meter" huh?" Beth asks. "So how long did you actually get to plan a wedding if dad was leaving?" She knows that he usually leaves less than a month after his orders come.

"Two weeks" Her Mum says.

"How did you get a wedding dress that fast, especially yours" Beth asked, she's seen her mother's wedding dress more than once, its still at her grandmas, she's even tried it on once with her Mum and her grandmas, it's the most beautiful wedding dress she's ever seen, and secretly she hopes her Mum will let her wear it for her wedding one day, in the very distant future.

"Your grandmas secretly had already brought it for me" Quinn says, "I saw it in a window when I was shopping with them in Brooklyn one day, and they thought we would get married fast so they brought it and kept it for the day I needed it"

"So how long did you plan your wedding?"

"Three days" Her dad says, "Rachel found a church near The Village with a priest how had been raised Jewish but converted Catholic when he got married, he agreed to do the wedding in his church, combing the two religions."

"Most of our friends were flying in for a holiday anyway, so we already had guests" Quinn adds, "The night they arrived at dinner, we told them to clear their schedules for the next day because they had a wedding to attend, that night they threw together Bachelor and Bachelorette parties with no warning. Rachel and Finn were Matron of Honor and Best Man, and Mr. Schue agreed to give me away when I asked the night before."

"I got on a plane just over a week later, with my wife bawling with Rachel in the terminal, and the next time I left I kissed you, handed you back to a nurse, said goodbye to your mum and took a cab from the hospital to the airport, you were only three days old."

"I hadn't even left the hospital?" Beth asks, she hadn't heard this before.

"No" Quinn says, "I had my labor induced so that your dad would be there when you were born, and because you were a little overdue anyway the doctor agreed."

When they stopped for petrol five hours into their drive, Beth jumped out of the car, ran up behind her mother and yanked up the back of her shirt.

"What are you doing?" Quinn exclaimed.

"Dad mentioned a tramp stamp" Beth said, her dad burst out laughing.

"I had it removed" Her Mum said, tucking her shirt back into her jeans. "Your dad is the tattooed one" Her dad has is insignia on his left bicep, a solid black band around his ring finger and _Quinn and Beth_ on his right wrist.

"So what was it?" Beth asked.

"Ryan Seacrest" Her dad tells her.

"Yuck" Beth answered.

* * *

They spent the weekend doing all the things they usually do when they come to New York, visiting Central Park, the art galleries in Brooklyn, the pizza out of a truck, shopping at all the great shops, seeing a Broadway production (although Rachel wasn't in this one). Then they drove to the base, which was a couple of hours away. There they met up with the guys on Puck's team (including Finn) and their families. While the kids (who were mostly around Beth's age) ran around the base causing chaos, the parents caught up. That's when someone mentioned the dreaded word to her parents: _adoption_, her Mum and Dad wanted another baby, she wasn't enough for them anymore.

A week later her parents had their first meeting with the local adoption agency, and three days after that they were notified that several couples were interested in pursuing them as adoptive parents. Three months after that the guest bedroom was converted into a nursery and was waiting for their new child to arrive any day now. Because of all the stressing out that Quinn had been doing, especially in the last week, Puck sent her and Rachel on a spa trip for a few days so she could "chill the fuck out."

Puck was reading a book on the couch went he got a phone call from Principal Cohen-Chang (yeah, that amused him) to come and collect his daughter. When he arrived at the office, he was sat down beside Beth and got a run down of the days events from Mr. & Mrs. Shue and Tina Cohen-Chang.

It was a silent ride home before Beth stormed into the house and towards her room, "Beth, downstairs now" Puck called to his daughter.

"What?" She yelled at him.

"Sit on the couch" He ordered. She sat down and crossed her arms, staring angrily at the wall in front of her, he flopped back down and picked up the book he'd been reading, not that he could concentrate on anything except what had happened in the principal's office today.

"Your not even going to say anything" She demanded.

"I've got nothing to say until your Mum gets home" He replied, hearing her huff he returned to his book, until an hour later Quinn walked in the front door.

"What is going on?" Quinn asked, rushing over to her angry/upset daughter, "Beth what's wrong"

"Dad keeps making me sit here and do nothing" Beth said as her Mum kneeled in front of her, cupping her daughter's face.

"Tell your mother why I had to get you from school an hour ago" Puck said to his daughter, Beth was silent, "Do you want me to tell her?"

Beth still didn't speak, "What the hell is going on?" Quinn demanded, torn between her husband and her daughter.

"Beth was caught with ecstasy at school today" Puck said sadly trying not to look at the devastated expression on Quinn's face.

"Go to your room Beth, actually go to my room there's nothing to do in there" Quinn told her daughter angrily before collapsing into her husbands arms and sobbing. Beth stormed out of the room as Puck tried to comfort his wife, "I didn't want this for her" she whispered.

"I know baby, we'll fix it" He whispered to his devastated wife.

"How?" Quinn sobbed, "She's doing drugs Noah, what do we do."

"I don't know Quinn, this isn't in the parenting manual" He whispered to her, "She's always been a good kid"

"But drug Noah! Drugs! Not just skipping class or sleeping around! This could kill her" She exclaimed.

"Do you remember what my mum did to me after I got home from juvie?" Puck asks, Quinn nods, "I don't want to do that to her, but I truly think its our only option"

"I don't know if I can do that to her" Quinn whispered. "I'm not strong enough for this"

"Yes you are babe" He whispered to her, "And when your not, I'll be here with you, every step of the way, I promise"

"She's going to hate us" She whispered.

"I'd much prefer her to be alive and hating us than dead, Quinn" He sighs.

"Promise me we'll get our baby girl back" She says, holding him tightly.

"I promise Q" He whispers, "Why don't you sit down here and relax for a while, I'm just doing to run to the shops and get a few things"

"Okay" She whispers, he lifts her off him and carefully lays her on the couch. "I love you Noah Puckerman"

"I love you too Quinn Puckerman" he replies, kissing her forehead before grabbing his wallet and keys, heading out the front door.

* * *

An hour later Puck returned home with a dozen shopping bags and hugged his wife tightly, whispering quiet words of love and encouragement before they headed upstairs towards their room

"I'll get Beth" Puck whispered to his wife, "You meet us in her room"

"Okay" Quinn replied, taking the shopping bags from him.

He took a deep breath before opening his bedroom door, seeing his daughter sitting on the bed defiantly, "Follow me" He said gruffly.

She stomped along behind him, until he walked into her room, "Sit on the desk chair" he told his daughter, she complied. Quinn was sitting on the window sill, next to the desk, her hands were shaking and her heart pounded furiously.

Without speaking, Quinn handed Puck a large synthetic stripy bag, and sat down next to her daughter. Puck then opened Beth's closet and started placing all of her clothes into the bag "WHAT ARE YOU DOING" Beth demanded, jumping out of her chair.

"Sit down Beth" Quinn said in monotone, Puck felt his heart wrench at how broken his wife sounded. Slowly he cleaned out of closet, placing each item in the bag neatly, mostly so she could she each thing he put away. When her clothes were packed he moved on to her desk, removing all her photo frames, books (leaving the one's that were school related, and the classics like Jane Austen and William Shakespeare, that she used to love), then all her electronics. Piece by piece he stripped the room of all Beth's personal touches, even taking the colorful sheets off the bed. He emptied every drawer and left the room with nothing. He replaced her clothes with three pairs of plain blue jeans, a dozen white tee-shirts, plain grey sweatshirts, even non-descript underwear (Quinn had texted him the right sizes), and he replaced the sheets on the bed to a plain white pair and a black duvet cover. Then he removed all the furniture apart from her bed, her desk and the desk chair, placing the rest in the hall for now. When he was finished, he placed the ten full bags outside her door, closing it gently, and sitting on her freshly made bed. By this stage Beth was furious and confused while Quinn was crying silently, he reached out for his wife, pulling her by the hand onto his lap and allowing her to sob into the crook of his neck.

"Words cannot even begin to describe how much this has hurt us Beth" Puck told his daughter, "Your mother and I are completely devastated by this whole thing. We trusted you, and we gave you everything we could, more than either of us ever had, and this is what we got. That all ends today. From now on you get up, go to school, come home, do your homework, have dinner, go to bed, and that's it. One of us drives you to school and picks you up, Tina has agreed to make sure you attend all of your classes, and your spending breaks in the choir room or the teacher's lounge with Mr. Schue, any trust we had in you is gone. There's also this" He lifted a blue and white box out of a bag from the chemist, "you'll take a drug test once a week, and I've book you in to see an addiction specialist and a councilor."

"You can't do this" Beth screamed as angry tears ran down her face.

"You haven't given us a choice" Quinn sobbed, "Do you think I want to do this Beth? Do you think I want to hurt you or upset you? I love you so much, we love you so much, this is killing me! I've never been so sad in my whole life Beth."

"We're doing this for you Beth" Puck said, holding Quinn tighter, "This hurts like hell, but we'll do anything for you." Puck carefully picked up his sobbing wife and carried her out of the room and into their bedroom, "Q I'll be back in a few minutes okay?" he whispered to her.

"Okay" She sobbed, clinging to one of the decorative pillows on their bed. He slipped out of the room, closing the door gently, slowly he moved each of the bags of Beth's things into the back shed and replaced the old lock with one that only he had a key to. Then he returned to his room, where he collapsed on the bed pulling his wife to him and allowing his tears to fall as well.

* * *

Beth watched out of her bedroom window as her dad carried all her things into the shed. She watched as he wiped his eyes, but she didn't care, he had just become public enemy number one.

* * *

It had been a week since Puck had collected Beth from the principals' office. Puck had just come home from dropping Beth off at school and going for a long run to clear his head. When he walked in the front door, he found his wife curled up in a ball, sobbing on the couch.

"Quinn, baby" He whispered, crouching down beside the couch, "What is it?"

"She doesn't even talk to us anymore Noah" Quinn whispered. "She hates us"

Puck pulled his wife into his arms and held her until the sobs subsided, "She's just angry Q, it'll blow over."

"I just want my baby girl back" She whispered, "I want the happy girl who blared bad rock music and read romance novels and talked endlessly about her day at dinner."

"I know" He replied, "I want that too"

* * *

If anything, in the next few days thing got even worse, Beth continued her silence and Quinn spent most of her day alternating between preparing for the new baby and sobbing on the couch. When Puck picked Beth up from school, instead of going straight home like every other day, he turned onto a back road and pulled into a dirt parking lot.

"What are we doing here?" Beth asked, speaking for the first time since she had got in the truck, "Aren't I supposed to be grounded?"

"Well you act like spending time with me is torture, so lets pretend it is" Puck said, getting out of the truck and heading towards the lake. Beth reluctantly followed him down towards a small lake with an old dock.

Puck sat on the end, dangling his feet off like when he was a teenager, his daughter sat beside him, "You know your Mum has put up with more than her fair share of crap with me" He began, "The worst of it was after my 3rd tour, you were four at the time. When we were over there, a kid, about ten years old, pointed a gun straight at Finn, I was given an order to shoot him, and I did. Saved Finn's life. When I came home, everything was different, I started having flashbacks to that day, but instead of a ten year old boy, I kept seeing a four year old girl, you. I couldn't even touch you or your mum, couldn't bring myself to hold you, or tell your mum I loved her, couldn't sleep for more than an hour. Your Mum tried everything, leaving the two of us so we could bond, a weekend away as a family, another weekend away just the two of us, and I just couldn't do it. And I was too ashamed to tell her what I had done. After three months, your Mum was done, she kicked me out. I went to the Hudsons and stayed there for a few days before Rachel sat me down, you know what your aunt's like, with all her talk about fairytales and soulmates. She refused to believe that your mum and I weren't in love anymore or couldn't work thing out. I don't know if I wanted to tell her or if she mind-fucked me but I told Rach everything. And then she shipped me straight into a therapists office, like within the hour. When I walked out I had a diagnosis of PTSD, a prescription for meds I didn't know existed and your mum was waiting at the door. I think within the week she'd read everything on PTSD ever written, and she went to every counseling session with me, she helped with all the flashbacks, started waking up at all hours of the night when I couldn't sleep, did everything she could and raised you at the same time. I was home six months before I finally held you for the first time, and it took another month after that for the flashbacks to stop completely. And you know the only reason I got through it is because my wife held my hand the whole way, and I promised myself that I'd never let anyone hurt her and get away with it. But now I don't know what to do because the person that's hurting her the most right now is my daughter."

"Daddy" Beth whispered as tears ran down her face.

"You know what really sucks is when I have to hold my wife in my arms while she cries because of someone who I love every bit as much as I love her" Puck said, "And all she wants is her baby girl to talk to her"

Beth didn't respond right away, and they fell into a comfortable silence for a while until her dad told her it was time to leave.

* * *

Quinn got the call the next day that it was time for them to come and collect their son from the adoption agency. She was a bundle of nerves when Puck finally pulled into the parking lot. A kind receptionist at the front desk informed them that Mr. Lawlor, the agency director, would only be a few minutes.

They sat down in the lobby as a blonde girl ran towards them, "I'm Hannah" she said, "I'm four" she held up three fingers.

"One more finger pretty thing" Puck said, carefully raising one more of the girl's tiny fingers as the little girl blushed.

"Fank ou" She said, smiling widely at the two of them.

"Hannah there you are" A middle aged man said, scooping up the little girl, "For such little legs you're a mighty fast runner little girl"

"She's gorgeous" Quinn told the man.

"You two must be the Puckerman's" The man said, "I'm Mr. Lawlor, sorry for keeping you waiting, but this munchkin" he tickled the little girl in his arms, "made another escape attempt"

"Me sneaky" Hannah yelled. Mr. Lawlor handed the little girl off to a woman, before directing Puck and Quinn into his office.

"Is Hannah yours?" Quinn asked the man, who told them to call him John.

"No, she's one of the foster children we have here" John told them, "She was placed into the system when she was born but unfortunately the family that adopted her returned her to us when she had medical problems as an infant, we had hopes to find an adoptive couple, but that looks unlikely."

"That's so sad" Quinn whispered.

"Honestly it happens a lot" John said, "We have no trouble finding adoptive parents for infants, but most people would be unwilling to adopt a toddler or an older child."

"It's hard to believe that no one would want her" Quinn said, "I mean she's so lively and outgoing."

Puck knew that look on her face, it's exactly the reason he would never let her near an animal shelter, she'd try to take every single one of them home. "One new baby not enough for you babe?" he asked jokingly.

"If you two are seriously interested in Hannah, then we could possibly even rush the paperwork and let you take her home tonight" John said, "I mean you have all the approvals for your little boy already"

"Does the boy have a name?" Puck asked, "Did his birth parents make any kinds of requests?"

"Just not to be contacted, they were really not keen on any kind of involvement beyond this point" John replied, "Why don't I go grab the baby and you two can just hang here for a few minutes"

The man slipped out of the room quietly as Puck turned to Quinn, "Two kids? Quinn, you seriously want to adopt Hannah and a newborn?"

"Yes, I just…I can't explain it but I have this feeling about her" Quinn said, "Like she's meant to be with us, like out of all the people in that waiting room, she ran straight to you, to us"

"I know, but do you really think we can handle that?"

"We can handle anything" Quinn whispered.

John entered the room with a sleeping baby in his arms and a woman following closely behind with a few bags. "Well this is your son" He told the parents, handing the baby to Quinn, "He just needs a name and a mountain of signed forms and he's all yours"

"He's perfect" Quinn laughed, rocking the baby in her arms, "His name is Todd Lucas Puckerman, right babe?"

"Yeah" Puck said, turning away from his new son, "Look I have a couple of questions about Hannah"

"Okay" John said, he and Puck sat down at the conference table while Quinn stood with the nurse, cooing at her son.

"What kind of medical problems does she have?"

"Well Hannah had a respiratory illness, which she was born with, it took 3 surgeries but it was completely repaired and the doctor's anticipate that she will have a completely normal life from this point forward."

"And how would she adjust do you think, living with us?"

"Hannah is unfortunately used to a lot of change, she's been bounced through a lot of foster homes, she is very energetic as I'm sure you noticed and not a lot of people wanted to take the time to bond and play with her. What she would struggle most with is family life, she's not used to being included into a family unit and she's completely unfamiliar with the idea that she would be able to stay permanently in a home."

"Noah, three kids was the dream remember" Quinn tells her husband, "And you know I think Hannah was meant to find us"

"Okay, I'm sold" Puck surrendered, "Looks like we'll have another bubbly blonde baby in the family"

* * *

"Hey" Alyssa said sitting next to Beth in Glee Club, "Today's the day you get a new sibling right?"

"Yeah just another kid for Mum to raise while dad leaves" Beth said. "And then he can have no interest in them unless its to punish them."

"Okay, enough with the attitude" Alyssa snapped, "One) our dads do an amazing thing by doing what they do and two) they do it for us, so that we can be safer and three) the fact that you have little to no contact with your dad is your fault, your so caught up in your little "oh woe is me" act that you ignore him when he's home, you never skye with him while he's away and you act like he's the worst father on earth, and he's not, but you sure as hell are making a run for worst daughter especially when your dad is considering quitting his job for you and you can't even be grateful that he would do that."

* * *

Beth didn't allow herself to cry until her dad picked her up from school that day, and again instead of taking her home, her dad took her to the lake. They were sitting on the dock before her dad asked her what was wrong.

"Alyssa said I'm the worst daughter in the world because I'm jealous of the new baby" Beth sobbed.

"Beth" Puck whispered, "Why? Why would you be jealous?"

"Because I'm not enough for you and mum anymore, I'm just the screwed up one and you'll have a perfect little baby to replace me" She cried, "And you're quitting your job because of me"

"Your Mum and I could never replace you Beth" He said, "And that's not what where trying to do." He took a deep breath before continuing, "Your Mum was six months pregnant when we talked about how many kids we were going to have. I told her then that I just wanted to see how badly I screwed up with the first one before thinking about a second, but your mum was adamant, she wanted three kids. When you were born there were _complications_ and when she got told she couldn't have any more kids, she held you in her arms and apologized to you for hours because she couldn't give you any siblings. Hell, she even tried to tell me to take you with me, find another wife and have more kids with someone else. After I finally calmed her down, we decided when you were a bit older we'd look into adoption. But then with my PTSD and your Mum's career and raising you, there just hasn't been a good time, and that dream of three kids just got shelved for a while. With moving back to Lima and your Mum having extra time, now seemed like the right time to expand our family, but you know you'll always be our first born, you'll just have to learn the share that place in my heart and your mum's heart with your new siblings."

"Okay" Beth said, hugging her dad, "Wait…siblings?"

"Yeah" Puck chuckled, "When we got there today, your Mum and I met a four year old named Hannah, and you know what your Mum's like when she gets an idea in her head, she is absolutely positive that Hannah was destined to be with us, and so congrats you got a brother and a sister."

"Mum's crazy sometimes" Beth agreed.

"Wouldn't be my Quinn if she wasn't."

"So I guess all my stuff is Hannah's new room right?" Beth asked, "Since I'm not getting it back"

"You'll see" Her dad said, standing up and walking back towards the car.

"What does that mean" Beth called as she followed her father.

* * *

When they arrived home a tiny blonde girl attached herself the Puck's leg, "DADDY!" She squealed. Quinn and Puck had told Hannah they while they were her new mum and dad, forever they had to promise her, that she could call them whatever she felt comfortable with, she picked Mummy and Daddy without a second thought.

"Hey little girl" Puck said, "Do you want to meet your big sister"

"Hi" Beth said, crouching down to the little girl, "I'm Beth, I'm your big sister"

"Hi, I'm Hannah" Hannah said, launching herself at Beth and wrapping her little arms around Beth's neck. Puck and Quinn laughed at the sight as Quinn handed Todd to her husband.

"Do you girls wanna go upstairs for a minute while Mum makes dinner?" Puck asked.

"I cook!" Hannah announced.

"Okay sweetie, do you wanna help me?" Quinn asked her youngest daughter.

"YES!" She exclaimed, taking the hand her mother offered her and skipping to the kitchen.

"I'm gonna dump my stuff upstairs" Beth told her dad, grabbing her discarded book bag off the floor. She headed upstairs and wasn't surprised that her dad followed her.

When Beth opened her bedroom door she gasped at the sight of her room, completely restored with all her stuff, posters, pictures, bedspread, furniture and all.

"It's been a tough few weeks for all of us" Puck told his surprised daughter, "And you know how stupid you were, we saw your hurt Beth and we know how much it sucks to be punished. But you made and mistake and you may not have liked it, but since then we've done everything we've told you to do, even when it all sucked. So you earned our trust back, as long as you can promise me you'll never do something that stupid, or irresponsible or dangerous ever again. Because I swear to you Beth, if you ever make your Mum as depressed and anxious as she's been for the past few weeks, what you just when through will be a cakewalk."

"I promise daddy" Beth whispered, "Can I hold my brother now?"

"Course" Puck said, carefully handing the infant over to his daughter, "And I'm warning you now, you do not get to have your own one of these until you're at least thirty"

"You were only 20 when you had me" Beth quipped, "What's your excuse?"

"Have you seen your mother?" Puck asked, "Like I could keep my hands off her"

"Gross!" Beth exclaimed, "That is way too much information, I am officially scared for life."

"You'll learn to deal with it baby girl" He shrugged.

"So if I'm baby girl, Hannah's little girl, and Mum's crazy girl, what is Todd's nickname?"

"He's my little man" Puck said, watching two of his children.

* * *

Quinn was giggling like a giddy schoolgirl when Puck climbed into bed with her that night. In a quick, practiced move he pulled her to his chest, and wrapped his arms tightly around her.

"What has gotten into you crazy girl?" He asked her.

"I have three kids" Quinn whispered, "I'm married with three kids!"

"I know, I'm your husband remember?" Puck replied, Quinn rolled her eyes at him, "I had another talk with Beth today."

"You haven't even told me about the first one yet" She pouted, "I don't like it when you two keep secrets from me."

"You really wanna know?" She nodded, "The other week I told her about my PTSD and how amazing you were"

"I kicked you out" She exclaimed, "I was not amazing, I didn't even realize what you were going through, I was too caught up in the fact that my husband wasn't interested in being intimate with me"

"Q" He whispers, "You were amazing, you supported me when I needed it the most, you couldn't have possibly known what was going on inside my head, but its because of you that I got through it all"

"I couldn't have gotten here without you" She whispered. "Your everything to me"

"I love you, crazy girl" He told her, kissing her forehead lightly. "I told Beth today how nuts you are, how you tried to force me to divorce you after she was born"

"I was emotional and hormonal" She insists, "I couldn't think straight."

"I seem to recall the word logical was thrown around a lot in the course of your craziness"

"After seventeen years, can't you just forget about it?" She begged.

"Why?" He asked, "It's the most entertaining thing you've ever said to me."

"Ha ha" She replied dryly, "Your so funny."

"Beth is a little bit jealous of the other two" Puck whispered in Quinn's ear, "She feels like she's being replaced, because she screwed up"

"No, no, no" Quinn whispered, gripping the neck of his t-shirt tightly, "She can't, she isn't"

"I set her straight" He replied

"What did you say specifically?"

"What do you mean?"

"She said you scared her for life" She answered, "What did you say to her."

"I told her that he couldn't have kids of her own until she was at least 30, so she pointed out that we were 20 and wanted my excuse" He chuckled slightly, "I told her it was because I couldn't keep my hands off you" It's still true as well, even though is left hand may be innocently cupping her check, his right hand is groping her butt.

"Your gross" She muttered. "Don't say things like that to our children"

"It's true" He squeezed his right hand to emphasize his point, "Still can't keep my hands to myself."

"Maybe you should learn too" Quinn whispered.

"Or maybe I can show you what I've wanted to do to you all day" He replied.

* * *

The second night after the Puckermans had expanded from three to five, the Hudsons came over for dinner. Not only were Rachel, Alyssa and Ella extremely excited to meet the new children, but the adults had an important conversation in mind.

Puck was playing with Hannah when the pounding on the door began to signify the Hudsons arrival. He scooped his youngest daughter into his arms and answered the door. All of a sudden, Hannah when shy and buried her face into his chest.

"Hi" Rachel squealed, "Oh, she's precious"

"Little girl, can you say Hi to Aunty Rachel?" Puck whispered to his daughter while the Hudsons let themselves inside.

"Hi" Hannah whispered, turning her head the side.

"It's nice to meet you Hannah" Rachel said, "Would you like to meet my children?"

"There your cousins" Puck whispered "and see the dopey one" he pointed at Finn, "That's your uncle Finn"

"Hi" Hannah muttered again.

"Hannah, I'm Alyssa, and this is Ella and Nate" Alyssa said to the shy little girl, "We brought some games, would you like to play with us"

"Can I?" Hannah asked her dad.

"Course" He said, putting her down, "Go play with your cousins"

Alyssa lead Hannah, Nate and Ella into the rumpus room, while Rachel, Finn and Puck sat on the couch, waiting for Quinn, Beth and Todd.

"How's things with Beth?" Finn asked, Puck had told his best friend all about their issues with Beth our the past few weeks.

"She's good" Puck replied, "Having the new additions, even just today, seems to make her a lot happier."

"Did you get much sleep last night?" Rachel asked, mindful of the fact that Puck had never experienced life with a newborn.

"Q was too wired to sleep" Puck replied, "But it wasn't too bad"

"What are you talking about?" Beth asked emerging from upstairs with a novel in her hand.

"Your crazy mother" Puck replied, "The kids are in the wreck room"

"Cool" Beth replied, heading in the opposite direction towards the study.

"What's going on with Beth?" Rachel asked.

"You didn't know?" Puck asked, Rachel and Finn looked at him blankly, "She and Alyssa had a fight"

"She never mentioned it" Rachel said, "Do you know what is was about" Puck looked hesitant. "Noah, tell me"

"Look, Alyssa said somethings that upset Beth" Puck replied, "and honestly she needs to focus on herself right now, so she's made the decision to leave it be for a while, and Q and I agreed with her."

"So she doesn't want to be friends with Alyssa anymore?" Finn clarified.

"She just needs time" Quinn said, emerging from another room with Todd in her arms. "It'll blow over."

Quinn sat on the couch next to Puck as he wrapped an arm around her and kept her firmly attached to his side. "Quinn, he's beautiful" Rachel said, staring at the infant.

"He's perfect" Quinn giggled, staring at her son, Puck shot Finn a look. "I'm not insane" she muttered, elbowing her husband in the ribs.

"Ouch woman" He exclaimed taking his son off her as she protested, "You think I'll let you hold the kid after that"

"Give him back" Quinn muttered.

"I'll take him" Beth said, emerging suddenly again and scooping the baby out of her father's arms, "Problem solved, now neither of you have him"

"Mummy, daddy" Hannah squealed, running into the running with Ella, "I made a fweind"

She climbed onto Puck's lap, bouncing up and down with excitement, "That's great little girl" Quinn said, leaning closer to her husband and daughter.

"I see you didn't lose your nickname" Alyssa said to Beth, who was standing on the opposite side of the room from her.

"Guess I'm not the worst daughter in the world then" Beth fired back, Rachel and Finn looked shocked.

"I only told you the truth" Alyssa retorted, "You can't be mad at me for that"

"You didn't even know the truth" Beth said, raising her voice slightly, "You've been too busy sleeping with anything in a varsity jacket to know anything that's been going on with me lately"

"What!" Rachel yelled, as Finn rounded up the younger children, including Todd, and lead them into the other room.

"At least I wasn't doing drugs" Alyssa yelled back at Beth, "Like you can judge anyone Amy Winehouse!"

"Whatever Brooke Davis" Beth retorted.

"Enough" Puck yelled, "Both of you sit down and shut up"

Beth flopped onto the couch between her parents, while Alyssa sat on the couch next to Rachel, both girls made a point of looking away from the other. Puck was silent until Finn returned and took his place next to Alyssa.

"You two have been friends for why too long for it all to go to shit now" Puck said, "Maybe you aren't the same people as six months ago but that's no reason you can't still be friends."

"Like a wannabe friends with a crackwhore" Alyssa exclaimed.

"As opposed to being just a plain old whore like you" Beth replied.

"Whatever you say" Alyssa said sarcastically. "I heard you were sucking off your dealer for a fix anyway"

"And I heard you were sucking off the football team for no reason at all" Beth rebutted. Quinn and Rachel looked horrified, Puck and Finn looked murderous. "And unlike in my case we all know its true"

"That's enough!" Quinn snapped, "Listen to yourselves, how can you say things like that to each other"

"It's only telling the truth" Alyssa said angrily.

"You wouldn't even know what that is anymore" Beth said, standing up and storming out of the room, followed closely by her father.

Puck closed the door of the study (Beth's unofficial second bedroom, she slept on the couch in their at least once a week) and sat on the couch, pulling his daughter into his arms as she started to sob. "The rumour about the dealer" Beth sobbed, "She started it"

"What?" Puck asked, "Are you sure?"

"Yes" Beth said, "I heard her tell someone she'd walked in on it"

Puck was furious, he couldn't believe that Alyssa, the daughter of his best friends, and a little girl he had known and loved all her life, would do something so awful to her best friend, and his daughter. The door swung open and Hannah padded into the room, hauling herself onto the couch and weaseling her way in between Puck and Beth to hug her sister.

"No cry" Hannah insisted. "No cry!"

"Okay, no cry" Beth agreed as she wiped her eyes, "See, no cry"

"Can we wead" Hannah asked Beth, "Story?"

"Yes, we can read" Beth said, reaching behind her for the book of fairytales she has been reading to Hannah, "Where did we finish?"

"Cindewella wun way!" Hannah answered happily, she had never had anyone take the time to read to her before.

"That's right Cinderella ran way from the ball at midnight" Beth said, opening the book to the bookmarked page. Puck slipped out of the room as Beth began to read to her little sister. He smiled as he remembered his argument with Beth this morning, he insisted that they should just let Hannah watch Disney movies while Beth insisted that none of the movies were as good as reading the book. Quinn ended the argument when she proposed the compromise that Beth could read the book to Hannah, who could watch the movie later.

* * *

As soon as Puck had followed Beth out of the room, Rachel had dragged her oldest daughter into the kitchen where they were now arguing loudly. Puck sat on the couch next to Quinn, wondering for a moment where Finn was.

"Is Beth okay?" Quinn asked him, looking at him anxiously.

"She says that Alyssa started the rumor about the dealer" Puck whispered to his wife. Quinn was silent until Alyssa returned to the room, followed closely by both her parents. By this time Quinn was furious, she got to her feet quickly, standing with her hands on her hips.

"You need to leave Alyssa, you aren't welcome in my home anymore" Quinn stated angrily, Rachel and Finn looked confused, "I've always thought of you as one of my children, but my children would never _ever_ do what you've done to Beth, you aren't welcome here anymore. I so disappointed in you"

Quinn left the room in search of her youngest child, she really needed a hug right now. Rachel was the first to respond to Quinn's declaration, "Why would she say that Noah?"

"Because Alyssa started the rumor about Beth and the dealer" Puck said angrily, "So yeah, she can't be around here anymore."

"Why would you do that?" Rachel yelled at her daughter, "How dare you say something like that about Beth"

"Rachel calm down" Finn said, his tone even despite his resounding anger, "And Alyssa explain now!"

"You don't get it, she gets everything, Cheerio's captain, Glee solos, prom queen votes, the best grades" Alyssa says, "Maybe I'm sick of just being Beth's friend, I want people to know who I am, but she never lets that happen."

"So you decided to turn into a whore and spread lies about me instead" Beth said, no one had realized until that point that she had come into the room. "Do you even know how pathetic that is?"

"I didn't mean for it to turn out like this" Alyssa sobbed.

"Then you shouldn't have done it, we've practically been sisters, our whole lives" Beth said, "Now I can barely stand the sight of you" with that she left the room and the Hudsons decided that it was time to leave.

* * *

It took months for the drama between Beth and Alyssa to finally blow over. Even though they weren't best friends like before, they were working on it. One night Quinn was reading a magazine as she waited for Puck to finish putting the little ones in bed.

"Why don't we fight more often?" Quinn asks as Puck enters their bedroom.

"Nothing to fight over?" Puck replies as he flops on their bed next to her. "Nothing worth the trouble of upsetting my wife?"

"So you just give in when I ask for something?" Quinn asks, "What about the things you want?"

"You've been pretty good at giving me everything I want so far" Puck said.

"So your happy?" She asks, "This is the life you thought you'd have."

He laughs, "When I was Beth's age. I thought I'd be a Lima Loser with an alcohol addiction, no job, probably still living with my mother, and alone" He tells her as she rolls onto his chest, "I definitely didn't thing I'd have the most amazing wife in the world, and three kids, three perfect kids"

"No regrets?" She asks.

"Too much time away from you and Beth" He whispers, "Too many milestones I didn't get to see."

"Not anymore Mr. Psychologist" She whispers, Puck had taken online classes while he was on leave, it had taken him twelve years but he got a masters in phycology and had just started work as a children's philologist at the juvie he had spend time at as a teenager. "Your stuck with me forever now"

"Wouldn't have it any other way"


	2. Sequel Alert

Sequel Alert: The sequel to this story called _A Challenging Kind Of Love_, has just been uploaded. It details Puck and Quinn's marriage during his struggle with PTSD, please read and review.

PS: Are all you Quick lovers as happy with the Glee season finale as I was?


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